Pope's trip to St. Francis' town highlights goals

ASSISI, Italy — Pope Francis broke bread with the poor and embraced the disabled on a pilgrimage to his namesake’s hometown Friday, urging the faithful to follow the example of the 13th-century St. Francis, who renounced a wealthy, dissolute lifestyle to embrace a life of poverty and service to the poor.

A giant flower decoration is displayed in front of the San Rufino cathedral on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to meet the clergy, in Assisi, Italy on Friday. Pope Francis took a pilgrimage to his namesake's hometown Friday, urging the faithful to follow the example of the 13th-century St. Francis.

Pope Francis leads a Mass in front of St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy.

According to tradition, God told St. Francis to “repair my house,” and the first pope to take the saint’s name has made clear that he sees that as his mission, too.

For Francis, that means reaching out to the most marginalized among the church’s 1.2 billion followers, engaging people of other faiths or no faith at all, and allowing the faithful to shake things up in their dioceses – even at the annoyance of their bishops – if that’s what it takes to better spread God’s word.

After all, the pope said, St. Francis was a radical himself in his complete devotion to his faith – a model that can serve Catholics today.

Here are the main goals Pope Francis has set out for his church:

A CHURCH ‘THAT IS POOR AND FOR THE POOR’: Francis had lunch with a group of poor at a soup kitchen after demanding that the faithful “strip” themselves of their worldly attachment to wealth, which he said is killing the church and its souls. He delivered that exhortation during the most evocative stop of the day, in the simple room where St. Francis stripped off his clothes, renounced his wealth and vowed to live a life of poverty. Since becoming pope in March, Francis has made it clear that one of his principal objectives is a church that is humble, looks out for the poorest and brings them hope.

A CHURCH THAT WELCOMES EVERYONE, INCLUDING NONBELIEVERS: At his first public audience after his election, Francis made an unusual exception: In recognition that not all in the room were Christians or even believers, Francis offered a blessing without the traditional Catholic formula or gesture, saying he would bless each one in silence “respecting your conscience, but knowing that each one of you is a child of God.” That respect for people of different faiths or no faith at all has become a hallmark of Francis’ papacy as he actively seeks out atheists for dialogue. Assisi is known as a place of interfaith dialogue, drawing people of all faiths – and no faith – to visit the basilica dominating the hill and its magnificent frescos by Giotto and Cimabue, which were felled and then restored after Assisi’s devastating 1997 earthquake.

A CHURCH THAT DOESN’T JUDGE: Francis’ first stop in Assisi was to an institute that cares for gravely disabled children, who in the words of the director are often seen as “stones cast aside,” invisible and neglected by the world. Francis caressed and kissed each child, saying their “scars need to be recognized and listened to.” It was part of the simple message of love that he has brought to others often considered outcasts, such as drug addicts and convicts. Francis has emphasized a message of merciful inclusion for all.

A CHURCH THAT IS ‘MESSY’ AND GOES OUTSIDE THE SACRISTY: St. Francis was considered a radical disobedient for having renounced everything for his faith, but that’s just the type of radical witness Pope Francis wants for today’s Catholics. Francis told Argentine pilgrims during World Youth Day in July to make a “mess” in their dioceses and shake things up. He hopes the church will stop being so inward-looking, and instead go out to the peripheries to spread the faith, just like St. Francis. His eulogy for all migrants lost at sea denounced a “globalization of indifference,” a prescient message given Thursday’s shipwreck off Lampedusa that killed scores of migrants. As black mourning ribbons hung from Assisi’s banners, Francis proclaimed Friday “a day of tears.”

A CHURCH THAT WORKS FOR PEACE AND CARES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: St. Francis is known for his message of peace and his care for nature, but he is often misunderstood, “sweetened” into something he wasn’t, Pope Francis said Friday. A Vatican spokesman put it this way: “Too often his message is lost and we reduce his role to that of a gentle, whimsical hippie who fed birds, smelled flowers and tamed wild wolves.” Pope Francis said the saint’s message was to truly “love one another as I have loved you,” calling for an end to all the wars in the Middle East, especially Syria.

A REFORMED CHURCH: Francis was elected on a mandate to reform the church, and he has set about doing that. One of his first stops Friday was to pray at the sanctuary of St. Damian, where the saint in 1205 was told to take a broken church and rebuild it. The pope has just finished three days of meetings with advisers helping him rewrite the main blueprint for how the Catholic Church is governed. Ideas include having a “moderator” to make the Vatican bureaucracy run more smoothly and a revised role for the Vatican’s powerful secretary of state. It also includes involving lay men and women more in the life of the church.